


All's Good in the Neighborhood

by wherenonagoes



Series: The Neighborhood Watch [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suburbia, Working title
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 09:12:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8439868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wherenonagoes/pseuds/wherenonagoes
Summary: Gabriel Reyes lives in the small town of Vista de Onda with his adopted son Jesse. He works on the police force to help eradicate the local gang, Talon. He gets caught in a rather nasty situation that has him in a chair for a few months, but just because he's out for the count doesn't mean Talon is stopping their elicit activities. The local neighborhood watch has recruited him as their police liaison in hopes of keeping them all safe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! I'm working on this fic AFTER NaNoWriMo. Be prepared to wait until the end of November/mid December for the next update. Once winter break comes along, I plan to be working on this a lot more.

The car exploded, sending Gabriel diving for cover. Gunshots echoed all over the alleyway, everything was closed off to him; he held his gun close to his chest, listening for footsteps from the approaching gang members. Then the building behind him rumbled, and the wall from the second floor exploded outward, sending bricks flying. A crack, blood, voiceless screaming, crawling to safety. Black.

* * *

 

Lights hovered above him, blurring in and out of focus, never becoming sharp enough to tell where they were coming from. Voices ran over him too, but those were unclear; vital signs, fracture, splinter, completely crushed. Gabriel tried to blink, tried to ask what was going on; no one noticed him. Black again.

* * *

 

Soft beeping came from Gabriel’s right. He squeezed his eyes more before attempting to open them, only to shut them closed again. The walls, everything was too light, too bright. He reached for his holster, gang members were still after him, he needed to protect- the holster was gone. So were his clothes, and everything else; he felt a draft in too many places. He forced his eyes open to see the inside of a hospital room; the walls stood blank except for the television hanging slightly off the ceiling and a thin mint stripe going around the middle, as if trying to be an accent. The beeping continued to his right; Gabriel looked to see the heart monitor, then followed the wire until he saw it connected to himself.

“Oh good, you’re awake.” The door to the room opened to let in a doctor who matched the walls, white as could be with green scrubs and a white coat, her almost platinum blonde hair pulled into a tight bun atop her head. She looked like she could barely be 20, let alone his doctor.

“What happened?” He croaked, his throat dry. She ‘tsked’ at him as he tried to sit up, walking towards the clipboard at the end of his bed, as if she didn’t already know everything about his situation.

“You were in quite the corner, Herr Reyes.” Her accent put him off. He shook his head, trying to clear the beeping and the static coming from the television to hear her better. “Do you remember anything?”

“I remember a loud explosion, and pain.” He bit his tongue, closing his eyes as he remembered it, pain shooting up his legs. He tried to clamp down on them with his hands, but that didn’t help. The doctor moved his hands away and looked at the clipboard again.

“Yes, the pain. How is that on a scale from one to ten?”

“Eight. Maybe nine.” It felt like twenty, but he wasn’t sure she’d be able to give him enough medication to dull that kind of pain. Spikes shot up near his thigh and knee. He shouted.

“I’ll get you something to relieve that right away. Just try to stay calm.” The doctor replaced the clipboard and hurried from the room, closing it behind her. He shouted again as the pain continued. Gabriel felt heavy, as though pinned to the bed he laid in, with no way to move. He still didn’t know what happened; still couldn’t remember anything besides the noise.

The doctor returned right away and started hooking up another bag to the IV stand. She checked his vital signs and wrote on his clipboard before looking to him.

“It should kick in right away. There’s a boy in the hallway, waiting to see you. I told him you’re still in early stages of recovery to the emergency surgery and shouldn’t see-”

“Let him in.” Gabriel spat at her. She still hadn’t told him what has happened, and it was probably Jesse waiting to be let in. She nodded and left the room again, Jesse taking her place in the doorway.

“What the hell happened to me?” Gabriel wanted answers, not someone beating around the bush. Jesse closed the door and took two quick steps to be at the bedside. His eyes looked bloodshot, like he hadn’t slept in days.

“Heh, funny thing. You were out on patrol and caught a gang meetin’ you remember that? Well, turns out they were plannin’ on bustin’ that building down. Old warehouse no one uses, right? Some fool must have set it off early, and the wall sorta fell and crushed yer leg.” Jesse tried to make light of it, but he stopped as another shot of pain spiked up Gabriel’s leg. “You were in emergency surgery all last night after one of yer lungs collapsed. They’re only now lettin me in to see you. It’s been a week.”

“Shit.” Gabriel leaned back in his bed and closed his eyes. The pain medication slowly began to trickle in, the shots and bursts of pain subsiding into a dull ache. This was gonna put his promotion off for a few years. “Why aren’t you in school? With all I’ve done, you expect me to let you get away with that?”

“Sir, I’ve been waiting to hear you weren’t dead. Else I wouldn’t really be needin to go back to school. ‘Sides it starts in a week.” Jesse stood his ground, his shaggy brown hair falling into his face, as if to cover the tear running down his cheek. Gabriel sighed and nodded his head toward the chair on the other side of the bed. Jesse took the seat and sighed in relief when he did. Whatever he’d been sitting on outside must have been hell.

“I expect you to be there next week. I’ll recover soon enough.”

“Yes, sir.” Jesse wiped his eyes and nodded. It wasn’t long before the two fell asleep to the regular beeping of the terminal between them.

* * *

 

“Fucking finally.” Gabriel turned in the bed, and slowly let himself down into his wheelchair. He’d finally be able to go home after a month in the hospital. His recovery time wasn’t what the doctors had been expecting,, but he did everything the physical therapist told him, and everything the doctor did too. Jesse probably messed the fuck out of the house, so he had that to look forward to now that he could leave.

Speaking of the ass of a son, Gabriel opened the door to the hospital room to see Jesse standing there with a cup of coffee in one hand and his wide-brimmed hat in the other, handing the coffee to Gabe as soon as he saw him. Gabriel took a large gulp, letting it burn his tongue, and sighed in relief as the sweet taste of caramel washed over him. He missed good coffee.

“Knew you wouldn’t want the shit in the cafeteria. Amélie’s waiting in the car. She’s gonna drop me off at school and take you home.” Jesse walked past him and started pushing him toward the exit. It didn’t take long to finish the out processing, Gabe getting two crutches to take home. He was supposed to transition to crutches at home only for the first month, then he could use them outside, just as his physical therapist said. The shorter amount of time he was on leave, the better.

They got to the orange minivan and Jesse helped Gabe into the passenger seat before stowing his things in the back. Amélie sat in the car with her regular tutor getup on, a black blazer with white pants, a cravat tucked in neatly to her collar. She texted quietly on her phone before nodding to them.

“Bonjour. It is good to see you out of the hospital, Gabriel.” She smirked and turned the car on, driving away from the hospital as they caught back up with the neighborhood shenanigans. It seemed as though new people had arrived within the month he’d been away from his house. One of the houses, the Problem House, was bought as well.

“Wait, you mean someone actually moved into that house? They’ve been trying to sell that thing for years.” Gabriel laughed. He’d even looked at the house deciding on where to move a few years back, but something had told him to steer clear of it, and hearing the history from the locals definitely made him happy about his decision. To hear that someone else had chosen to live in the house that constantly seemed to turn out tenants, well, Gabe hoped they had a strong stomach.

“Oui. Tall, blonde, muscular. Heard he’s the new-”

“You mean Mr Morrison? You mean to tell me the new vice principal moved in down the street from me?” Jesse shoved his head in between the two, leaning forward from the back seat.

“Yeah, let’s hope you and him don’t get on a first name basis, alright, mijo?” Gabriel pushed his head back. “Don’t want to ruin your senior year. How are those applications coming?”

“You know, they’re goin’. Don’t really know where I’m applyin’ yet..”

“Going local would save you some money, you know. Community college isn’t a bad place to start if you still don’t know what you wanna do.” Gabriel leaned further back in his chair, taking his phone from his pocket.

“Yeah, yeah…” Jesse nodded, voice trailing off.

“Your stop, Jesse. Au revoir.” Amélie opened the side door with a button and he grumbled away. Gabriel chuckled and looked through his missed messages. He hadn’t been allowed to use his phone that much in the hospital, the doctors and therapists wanting him to focus solely on recovery, nothing work related. The only thing he was really allowed to see after filling out his report of what he remembered was his notice of paid leave while he recovered, and that he’d have to take a physical exam upon returning to duty. Everything else he got through Jesse, who visited almost every day he wasn’t busy at the diner.

“So this guy, he look alright? Nothing sketchy?” He couldn’t help but think about this new man who’d moved into the local “murder house.” Maybe housing really was stretched as thin as the newspapers and the local college wanted them to believe.

“He’s the epitome of an American man, Gabriel. He drives a truck. I wouldn’t worry.” Amélie sighed as she turned the street corner and pulled into the driveway of a little yellow house that Gabriel called home. The old place looked lived in with its unkempt lawn and spider webs connecting the mailbox to the small flag to indicate anything new. Amélie pulled his wheelchair out of the back of the van and set it out for him. Gabe hoisted himself down with difficulty, trying to put as little pressure on his left leg as possible. His friend got everything else, and the two went into the house.

Gabriel set foot, well, rolled into the house for the first time in a month, and he swore when he did. There was dust coating the top of the table near the door, and the coatrack didn’t look like it had been vacuumed in eons. Dust bunnies hugged the baseboards, and packaged food wrappers covered the coffee table in the living room. Jesse was definitely getting grounded when he got home.

“Thanks for driving me home, Amélie. I’ll call you if anything happens.” Gabe watched as she set his things on the couch, and nodded her head. She was already taking time out of her private tutoring schedule to pick him up, he didn’t want to keep her anymore. She waved and left the house, Gabe locking the door after her and turning back to the pigsty that Jesse had left. At least that gave him something to do.

Halfway through the day, and halfway through throwing away all the garbage and debris the tornado known as Jesse had thrown everywhere, Amélie called him on his phone.

“So there’s a neighborhood watch meeting tonight that Ana has finally called since you’re back. She really wants you to go.”

“I’ve got better things to do.” The mess in the living room stared back at him.

“Like what? Clean? I’ll pick you up at half past five.” She hung up after that, leaving Gabe to sigh in dismay at the prospect of seeing people. Sure, he missed being around others, and he could use some socialization, but he’d just gotten released from the hospital. He should definitely wait a few days before going to large gatherings of people he rarely talked to.

But then the clock next to the door beeped, signaling that someone was at the door and that it was half past five. Gabriel looked like shit, he knew that, but he didn’t have time or the energy to change into clothes not covered with dust from vacuuming the hard to reach spots in the living room. He plopped down in his chair, his armpits sore from the crutches and wheeled himself to the door.

“Come in!” He unlocked the door and moved out of the way for Amélie, who stepped in afterward checking her phone, in an entirely different outfit from before, this time in jeans and a purple crewneck sweatshirt.

“It’s down the street so we can leave when you’re ready.” She waved towards where his room was and he grunted.

“I am ready.”

“Gabriel, please at least put a different shirt on. There are visible sweat stains.” Amélie didn’t look up from her phone while she said this, making him grumble more as he rolled himself down to his room. There was a slew of clean clothes, because Jesse had been able to do something right while he was gone, and so he quickly switched, putting on some deodorant as well after a quick whiff almost sent him to the ground. He pulled a sweatshirt on over it and pulled a beanie from his dresser before he joined Amélie in the living room again.

“Lock the door, will you?” Gabriel rolled out of the house and down the newly installed ramped that ran down his stairs. The click of the door being closed followed soon after, and Amélie gestured for his keys to lock it before the two started off down the road.

Amélie clicked away on her phone, responding to clients and emailing parents about updated schedules. She ran her own private tutoring studio in her house, mostly just French, but she wasn’t beyond helping with other subjects when teachers at the local high school didn’t help. Gabriel wondered why she didn’t just apply to work at the school, especially since she was already proving to give them competition for their grades, but that was her business.

“If I remember correctly, Ana invited the new man over for the meeting, so you’ll be able to gauge how dangerous he is yourself.” A smirk played on Amélie’s face and Gabriel rolled his eyes. There had to be something more to this guy if she kept bringing him up, and Gabe just hoped that it wasn’t something bad.

The two made it to the front of the sky blue house, the front yard neatly trimmed with a short white fence around it. Amélie opened the fence gate for Gabriel before knocking on the door. Gabe glanced down the street to see if anything else had changed, but the same houses stood in the same place with the same cars he remembered being there a month before. That was except for the navy truck parked in front of the house next to Ana’s. He looked it over before realizing that Ana had already opened the door for them both to come in, royal blue scarf adorning her head.

“It’s a pleasure to see you after all this time, Gabriel. I trust you’re healing well?” Ana closed the door after them and showed them to the dining room where a few others were waiting. Lena was among them, wearing a heather sweatshirt for her college track team. She bounced out of her chair as soon as she saw Amélie. Gabe chuckled and looked back to Ana.

“As best as I can with screws in my leg. I’m not gonna be able to go through a metal detector again. Actually, I need to step outside and call Jesse. He’s gonna be wondering where I am.” Gabriel took his phone out of his pocket and rolled over the hardwood floor toward the back door,  Ana opening it for him. He reached for his phone again and settled just out of sight from the window when he noticed another man pacing the other side of the yard. He wore a tie and a button up shirt, but his sleeves were folded back over his arms, and his short blond hair shone in the afternoon sun. From the looks of it he was talking to someone on the phone, and that’s when Gabriel realized he was staring and picked up his phone to call Jesse.

“Mijo, I’m at Ana’s for the watch meeting. I should be home by eight. Snag me some fries if you can.” Gabe hadn’t expected Jesse to pick up during his shift at work, but he’d hoped the boy had been free. The loneliness from an empty home seemed to get to him now that he was surrounded by others. He huffed and pushed himself back toward the house, only for the other man to open the back door for him. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m Jack, Jack Morrison. I don’t think we’ve met yet.” He held out his hand once both of them were inside, and Gabriel shook it, almost surprised at the callouses on his hands. This guy was a teacher right?

“Gabriel Reyes. I heard you moved in while I was at the hospital. I live down the street.”

“Ah. Seems word gets around. Yeah, I moved in last month. Ana’s been all over me with meeting the other neighbors. Turns out a few of them are students at the school I work at.”

“You’re the new vice principal of the high school, right?” Gabriel rolled himself toward the dining room again, taking the end of the table where Ana had moved the seats. More people had come to join them, Gabe recognizing Mrs Shimada and her two sons, though there was a third boy with them he hadn’t seen before. Gabriel waved over to her and she nodded before returning to her conversation with Ana. Hanzo, the older Shimada boy, seemed bored, flicking his thumb through his phone, not bothering to say hi to anyone. Genji, the younger one, sat at the edge of the table near him in his wheelchair, his bright green hair impossible to miss. He talked with the newcomer, who seemed to be about the same age, with a shaved head, burns scars lightly coloring hear and there.

“Yeah. Started this semester. I guess news travels fast. You have a kid there or something?” Gabe turned his attention back to Jack, nodding.

“Jesse. Hopefully you haven’t met him yet.” If Jesse had managed to get detention in the one month he hadn’t been home, and the three weeks he’d been in school, there was definitely gonna be a Talk when he got home.

“The Jesse that wears a ten gallon when it’s sunny? We’ve run into eachother few times, but nothing bad.” It was almost a relief to know that Jesse was just seen as the local cowboy, and Jack seemed to think it funny enough. Maybe that was the only thing Jack knew about him.

“That’s him.” The conversation ended as Reinhardt burst through the front door, his large body filling up the hallway as he ushered Ana’s daughter Fareeha into the room, picking her up after her martial arts lesson. Fareeha took the seat next to her mother, running her hand through her hair as she looked over who happened to be in her house today. The poor high school junior was probably used to seeing random classmates in her home by now.

“I hope I am not late. You said six, ja?” Reinhardt hung up his coat on the rack and took the last seat at the table. Ana smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek as she nodded, placing her hand on Fareeha’s shoulder

“Well, it is that time, let’s get started on the meeting,” Ana walked over to a stack of papers and started passing them out. “This is our first meeting during the school year, so we’ve got some new faces in the neighborhood. If you want to introduce yourself, you can while I pass the papers out.”

Everyone looked to Jack suddenly and he stood, waving his hand.

“I’m Jack Morrison. I’m the new vice principal at Vista de Onda High School. Ana here told me about the neighborhood watch, so I figured I’d come since there are so many of my students here.” Jack smiled and Gabe faltered for a second, looking to the table before he noticed Ana looking at him.

“I’m not new to the neighborhood.”

“You’re new to the meetings.” Ana smiled and Gabe regretted leaving his house.

“Fine. Hi, I’m Gabriel Reyes. You all know me.” He waved his hand, nodding toward the group of people. It was the truth after all.

“Gabriel.” Gabe really wished Ana didn’t treat him like a child, but he went on anyway.

“I work at the police station, but I’m on leave until my leg heals. There, happy?” He sighed and leaned back in his chair, wishing he could itch his leg through the brace he wore on his thigh.

“Thank you. Now, I’m happy to see you Gabriel. They only recently released the statement on what happened when you got injured, and it's something that affects all of us. You all know Talon, the gang that’s been ripping up the industrial end of town, well Gabriel was near the docks when he got injured.” The room went silent; no more fidgeting from the Shimada boys, Améile and Lena didn’t whisper under their breath, and no one dared move. The docks were only a few blocks away from city hall. “And so, I’m recruiting Gabriel as our police liaison to keep us updated on any other attacks. I want everyone to look at the papers I’ve given them.”

The room shuffled as everyone turned over the leafs of paper and Gabriel recognized several of the people on it immediately. Others seemed to be confused as to what it was.

“These are the known members of Talon. If anyone sees them, don’t hesitate to call the police. We don’t want anyone getting hurt. Does anyone have any questions?” Ana looked around the room, pushing her dark hair behind her ear before sitting down. The other boy sitting with the Shimadas, the one Gabriel hadn’t recognized, raised his hand.

“Should other suspicious activity get the same treatment, or should I just report that to an adult?” The newcomer seemed attentive, actually concerned about what they were talking about. Something about his accent told Gabriel he definitely wasn’t local, but he couldn’t place it.

“Excellent question. I’m afraid I don’t recall your name.” Ana smiled weakly.

“Zenyatta.” The boy, Zenyatta, nodded his head, smiling back at her, his eyes bright. He seemed eager to help keep the neighborhood safe, even if he hadn’t even been there a month. His clothes seemed worn, as though he’d had them for ages, and he’d just now grown into them, and he wore a strange necklace with large orbs around his neck. How this boy and the menace known as Genji had become friends, he would never know.

“Thank you, Zenyatta. Yes, I would report it to an adult first. Any other questions?” No one raised their hand, and Gabriel was almost thankful until Ana moved onto the next order of business.

“Alright, then let’s start planning for the Halloween block party.” Then the rest of the night passed with people shouting over others, arguing about the theme, about whether alcohol should be allowed on the premises, only allowed after hours, or not at all. Gabriel blocked most of it out and browsed through his phone before Ana asked him to be the attending officer. He wasn’t even back on duty yet and people were already asking for his help with things.

The end of the meeting finally came, and people were chatting idly about their week, making it almost impossible for him to get out. He looked over to Zenyatta and smiled. He was in a wheelchair alongside Genji, and the two seemed to get on well, the green haired boy laughing more than Gabriel thought possible. Hanzo was sitting next to them as Mrs Shimada talked with Ana, still thumbing through his phone much like Gabe had the entire meeting.

“I should be getting home. Jesse’s probably worried.” It was past eight, and as soon as he said this, others seemed to notice too, the house emptying quickly. Amélie left with Lena, leaving Gabriel to wheel himself home in the dark, until Jack stepped outside the house and waved at him.

“Uh, do you want me to push you home?” It was an honest enough question, but Jack sounded hesitant as he asked, as if he didn’t know if it was okay to offer.

“If you wouldn’t mind. My forearms aren’t so used to doing this.” Gabriel let his arms fall on his armrests as Jack pushed him down the sidewalk, maneuvering around the telephone polls. Crickets and frogs chirped in the background, and Gabriel spotted a few cats down the road laying on the still warm cement.

“So, you work for the police?” Gabriel almost didn’t hear Jack as he asked his question.

“Yeah. I transferred here about 4 years ago from LA.”

“What made you move?” Jack seemed genuinely interested, and it filled the silence that was the walk home.

“I-uh. I adopted Jesse out of a bad spot, and figured he could use some new scenery.” The new scenery he’d imagined hadn’t been cold and damp like Vista de Onda, but it still had everything they needed, and had been the only place he could transfer to still in California.

“I wondered why you had different last names.”

“Wasn’t gonna make a 13 year-old boy take my last name when he’d already written his more times than he can count. Nah, things were complicated, so we moved up here. It’s been good for him.”

“Sounds like you’re proud of him.”

“I guess I am.” Gabriel stopped talking. He didn’t know this man, he was just doing him a kindness, but he wasn’t going to spill everything about himself over that. “The pale yellow house right here.”

“Well, it was nice meeting you. See you around.” Jack waved as he walked down the driveway and down the sidewalk again. Gabe watched after him before shaking his head and unlocking the door, yelling through to tell Jesse he was home and that he better have some french fries for him after the night he’d had. He didn’t mention the conversation with Jack.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe gets an offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for me to finish this! This winter hasn't been kind to me and I've come down with the flu, s I don't know when the next chapter will be up. Thank you for reading!

In the aftermath of the released statement from the police, neighborhood watch meetings were set to take place every Friday. It gave Gabriel things to think about, and he traded emails with his precinct, asking for any updates he was allowed. Nothing more had been added to the report Gabriel had submitted while he was in the hospital; Gabriel made sure to bolt the door every night. 

The Thursday before the next meeting, Gabriel perused his recipe book for something he could make. Ana had decided that the meetings would do better as potlucks, which everyone in the text group agreed with. It gave Gabriel more to do at home other than watch the news at least. 

Around five in the afternoon, Jesse opened the front door, arriving home from work earlier than Gabe had expected, but too late to be coming from school. He wheeled himself from the kitchen to the living room as the boy closed the door behind him. 

“You got off work early.” Gabe watched his son think before nodding. 

“Uh, I’m not coming from work sir.” There was a brief pause before Jesse continued,  “I got detention from falling asleep in class again.”

“Again? Why have you been falling asleep in class at all, mijo?” Gabriel moved to let him by and Jesse plopped onto the couch, taking his hat off his head. 

“My shifts in the morning? I’m leavin’ nearly 4:30 every day.” The sheer exhaustion in his voice and his posture led Gabe to believe he wasn’t lying. He sighed and pinched his nose between his eyes. 

“Have you talked to Mrs Scott about this? She knows you’re in your last year of highschool.”

“...No. I’ve been tryin’ my darndest to save up for a car.”

“You can use the van, mijo! Don’t push yourself so much. You should keep your afternoon shifts and let yourself sleep.” He was only a month into school and already trying to run himself into the ground. Gabriel sighed again and rubbed Jesse’s head. “But I need to go to the grocery store, so let’s get going. We’ll pick up dinner there too.” 

Jesse nodded, donning his hat again while the two headed for the door. Once in the bright orange van, Gabe’s wheelchair safely stored in the back, he checked his phone. The group chat between the adults of the neighborhood watch was blinking on and off; Gabriel opened the chat to see what was going on. 

“Seems the VP’s asking what he should bring to the meeting. Says he can’t cook.”

“Aw, is he plannin’ on buying one of those appetizer platters or somethin’? Those things are nothing more than stale crackers and old vegetables.” Jesse shook his head, driving through the intersection as the light turned. Gabe chuckled before sending a quick text into the chat. 

“I told him to bring drinks.” And then as soon as he sent the message Ana replied banning alcohol from the meetings.  There were too many minors, plus they wouldn’t get anything done if they were intoxicated. 

“You know as well as I that Ms Amari wouldn’t take that.” Jesse shook his head, pulling the van into one of the handicapped parking spots, placing the temporary placard on the rearview mirror. After Gabe was comfortable in his chair, the two entered the store, Jesse pushing a cart as they wandered the aisles. 

Gabe tried to remember the list he’d made in his head, going down and crossing things off once they were in the cart, but then someone bumped into him and he looked up to see Jack carrying a small basket filled with snacks. He still seemed to be dressed for school, black slacks with a blue shirt and a tie, maybe he’d come straight to the grocery store after work. 

“Didn’t think I’d see you here. Hi Gabriel, Jesse .” Jack waved to Jesse and smiled down to Gabe, adjusting the basket on his arm. 

“Hi Mr Morrison,” Jesse immediately turned back toward the aisle they’d come from, as though looking for something else. Gabe raised his eyebrow in his son’s direction before he nodded his head toward the other man. 

“Hi Jack. You shopping for the meeting tomorrow?” Gabe couldn’t imagine Jack getting the amount of snacks and junk food in his basket for himself. 

“Yeah. I got your text, ha. I could still bring juice or soda or something, just not alcohol.” Jack started shuffling through his basket, showing a large bag of tortilla chips and other snacks. Gabe rolled his eyes. 

“Where’s the fun in that?” 

“Aren’t you a cop?” Jack caught on that he was joking, laughing a little as Gabe wheeled himself down the aisle, Jack keeping step next to him. 

“Yeah, but I’m not on duty. But yeah, you should get something to drink so we’re not stuck with water or that weird tea Ana tries to get everyone to drink.” Memories of all the times she’d tried to convince Gabe to drink came back to him, and he shook his head as he heard Jack speak again. 

“I thought that tea was pretty good.”

“Before or after you burned your tongue?” Gabe laughed when Jack didn’t answer, instead turning towards the refrigerated items to their right. Jesse had already piled two gallon jugs of milk into the cart, so now Gabe only needed to get the last few things. 

“So uh, what’re you making?” Jack seemed to browse the same aisle, as though guessing what Gabe could be throwing together. 

“Pizza, something everyone will like. I’ll probably ask to make it at her place so it's fresh. Might make it tonight, who knows.” Gabe shrugged his shoulders and whistled with his fingers. Jesse came around the corner with a cart filled with things they probably needed to replace that had skipped his mind. “Cheese and pepperoni, mijo.” 

“Right.” Jesse darted from the aisle, leaving the two adults again as Jack grabbed an oven meal from one of the refrigerators. Gabe watched as Jesse left then glanced over to Jack.

“You done anything to make him scared of you or something?” There had to be a reason that he was avoiding Jack, more than just the fact he worked at the school. Jack nodded his head, grabbing a bag of frozen peas and putting them in his basket before replying. 

“I’m the vice principal. I was with Jesse for detention today.” And that meant they’d seen each other less than an hour ago. Gabe held in a groan thinking about all of it and nodded. Jack didn’t meet his gaze, continuing to search the colored frozen items for something else. 

“Oh, that. Right.” It stayed silent then. It was awkward to talk to Jack about school related things. He wasn’t a teacher, but still he’d had close contact with his son for disciplinary action. Jack rolled his shoulders back before looking to Gabe again, his face almost too honest. 

“Do you know why he’s been falling asleep in class? I shouldn’t talk work or anything, but I’d like to know if there’s anything I can help with or if there’s a problem. Jesse’s a bright kid.” Gabe shook his head, eyes averting to look that the small pile of things he’d amassed on his lap. Part of him wished they hadn’t run into Jack now, but at least this meant things would get straightened out. Gabe only wished he’d known about the problem before it’d been repeated. 

“Ah, no. He’s just got a morning shift at Scott’s Diner, but I talked with him about it. Punk kid is trying to save up for a car and thinks it’s worth breaking his back over.”  The air in the aisle seemed tense, and Jack had to move several times to let other shoppers go by. Gabe didn’t know how he felt about having this conversation anymore. Jesse was a good kid, he was a good son; Jack only knew him from detention, and that didn’t sit right with Gabe.

“Well, that’s good, because when it comes to the fourth detention we have to consider suspension.” Gabe almost cursed right then. Had Jesse had three detentions already? 

“How many times has he gotten detention?”

“Only twice, but I’d rather it stop there.” Jack nodded his head and ran his hand through his blonde hair before looking to the other end of the aisle. 

“Same here, but we gotta get goin’ so I’ll see you tomorrow at the meeting.” Gabe waved and Jack raised his hand to return before pointing towards another aisle.

“Right… You think Sprite would be good?” There were sale signs next to the aisle he pointed, it seemed soda was always on sale. 

“Get some Coke too.”  Gabe smiled and Jack at least looked like he tried to return it before Gabe wheeled himself from the aisle, not looking back at the vice principal. Jesse waited near the checkout stations and Gabe pushed what he had in his lap before sighing. 

“Anything else you want?” Jesse didn’t seem eager to get anything else, but he asked it nonetheless incase Gabe had forgotten anything; yeah, he was a good kid. 

“Go grab a bottle of whiskey.” Jesse nodded and Gabe pushed the cart through, grunting as he leaned on the counter to get himself up from his chair. He ignored some of the looks the other customers were giving him. They didn’t know what was happening, he owed them no answers, so he piled things onto the conveyor belt and placed the whiskey after once Jesse got back, biting his tongue through the pain. He got his ID out and the cashier slid it through before scanning the rest of the items. 

On the way back home Jesse didn’t talk. Gabe didn’t want to say anything either, but he knew there were things he needed to affirm.

“So you’re going to quit the morning shift, right? You could do Saturday and Sunday morning, just not weekdays, alright? And no late night shifts either. You need your rest.”

“I got it, I got it. Uh, did Mr Morrison say anything?” Jesse stopped at the intersection and glanced at Gabe before he continued when it was his turn. 

“He said they start thinking about suspension after 4 detentions, but I don’t want this to go any further, you got it?” Jesse nodded his head so fast Gabe thought he’d get whiplash. 

“Wasn’t plannin’ on it, sir.” Gabe smiled and Jesse pulled into the driveway of the small house.

“He also lied and said that he liked Ana’s tea.” Gabe opened his door and waited as Jesse pulled his wheelchair around, settling into it as Jesse handed him some of the bags to keep on his lap. 

“After he burned his tongue, right?”  Gabe laughed and Jesse joined him as they got the groceries into the house and settled into making their dinner together. 

  
  


The time came for Gabe to get all of the ingredients he needed from his house to Ana’s. She had gotten off work early, as she always did on Fridays, and had texted him saying she could help, but had neglected to tell him what time. It was now 5 in the afternoon, and Gabe was happy he’d made the dough the day before instead of waiting to make it fresh. He tapped on his watch, the digital screen changing and getting fingerprints on it every time, but still there was no new notification. A knock came from the door as he rubbed it clean and he sighed in relief to see it was Ana. She no longer had her work clothes on, instead dressed modestly in a lavender headscarf and a white longsleeve t-shirt. Gabe rolled his chair out of the way to let her in.

“I made preparations for you to move about the kitchen on your crutches.” 

“You didn’t have to do that, Ana. I can get around fine in my wheelchair.”

“Yes, but you’ll never recover fully and get back your strength if you stay sitting all day.” Ana stepped into the house and took the bag of ingredients in one arm before she grabbed the crutches that sat up against the wall near the door. Gabe hadn’t use them much just yet, his leg still hurt whenever he put pressure on it, but if anyone knew what he needed to do to heal, it was Ana. Gabe wheeled himself out the door after her and turned to lock it. He’d need to wheel himself to her house, but it was better than trying to balance everything on his lap. 

The late summer sun shone down on the two as they went down the street. Kids were starting to get home from their sports practises, and their parents were starting to get home from work. As it was, Jesse would be getting off in only another hour; Gabe had texted him to come to the meeting for dinner, since that’s where he would be, but he still hadn’t received a reply. Ana gave him the bag of ingredients while she unlocked her door, letting Gabe enter first before closing the door behind them. The kitchen was the same as he had seen it before, wide enough for his wheelchair, but not much else. He could walk through the whole thing, so if others needed to, they could go around to do their business in the kitchen, but Ana had said he should use his crutches, so he moved towards the dining room and sighed while he prepared himself mentally. 

“I’m here for you.” Ana’s hand rested on his shoulder, then both of them held out onto his forearms to help him up. It was one thing to get up and know there was something to lean on, something sturdy that wouldn’t fall, it was another to lean on another person that could easily be moved. But Ana wasn’t small, and she wasn’t frail, she could hold her own in the police academy where they’d met, so she could hold him up here. 

Gabe moved his feet to the ground and leveled them, them squeezed his hands around Ana’s forearms, helping himself up and onto his feet. Pain shot up his left leg, centering on his knee. He gasped and Ana steadied him before his weight was distributed equally. The pain subsided into a dull ache. It didn’t feel like he was ready, but Gabe didn’t feel like he would ever be ready. They’d told him his femur had been shattered, and how do you roll back into life after that happens? Gabe bit his lip, the bitter taste of copper dripping onto his tongue as he leveled himself out and let Ana hand him the crutches. 

“I can give you something to dull the pain, but nothing as strong as what that doctor gave you.”

“It’s fine. I’ll need- I’ll need some help in the kitchen.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” Ana pat Gabe on the back as he settled into the crutches, moving his wheelchair as well and folding it up. She came back only a moment later with a glass of water and two pills. “What do we need to do first?”

“We need to roll out the dough. I’ll make the sauce, I brought all the spices.” Gabe downed the two pills and gulped back the water before joining her in the kitchen. The neutral tones of all the appliances made it feel like his own home, she even had a similar oven to his own, with the digital clock in bright neon green; it was already half past 5. They had plenty of time, hopefully. 

An hour later the last pizza came fresh out of the oven, the other members of the neighborhood watch group sitting and chatting in the dining room while they organized all of the things they brought. Gabe knew he had a text waiting for him on his phone, and after he washed the flour off of his hands he reached into his pocket and unlocked his phone, looking to his messages. 

“The Shimada kids and Jesse are going to the movies. So we don’t need to wait for them or anything.”

“It’s a blessing, believe me.” Ana cut through the pizza with the cutter and slid it back onto the pan, carrying it out to the table while Gabe followed after her. His legs still hurt, his left from the bone still healing, his right from lack of use and all the weight he put on it, so he sat down as soon as he could. Jack smiled at him from his right, and Reinhardt laughed across the table as he talked to Mrs Shimada about the kids school year and the upcoming block party. 

When the meeting officially started the only child present was Fareeha, who was there merely to eat dinner while she did her homework. She didn’t even stay the entire time, claiming she was going to a friend’s house to study since they were being too loud. Gabe  groaned as more information about the block party was discussed, since that was the only other topic on the table. He didn’t know if he’d be strong enough on his feet by the end of October to help that much, but then Ana signed him up. 

“You’re in charge of decorations. I have a list of what I’ve already got here, and you’ll be compensated for whatever you end up buying. We were originally going to do a haunted house in the house Jack is in now, but, well-” Jack stood, interrupting Ana before she could continue with anything else. 

“You could still do that. I don’t really have all that much in there. We can just block off my bedroom and have it go into the backyard.” He shrugged his shoulders before sitting back down, the tops of his cheeks dusted lightly with pink. Gabe smirked before turning his own eyes towards the table. He didn’t want to be caught looking, that- that would just be weird. Then he realized what Jack was offering.

“That works. Gabriel, you can help Jack with the haunted house, and Amélie and Lena will do decorations. Where are those two, by the way?” Ana turned to Reinhardt.

“It’s the third week of September, ja? Date night.” Ana nodded her head, sighing before she checked some things off of her clipboard. Gabe groaned before speaking.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Not that the idea wasn’t something he wasn’t interested in, he just wanted to be given an option was all. 

“Would you rather be a chaperone? That’s the only other position.” Ana raised an eyebrow and nodded when Gabe shut his mouth, crossing his arms. There was his option, too bad it was a shit-ass one. He wasn’t going to get stuck babysitting on one of his favorite holidays. “That settles it then. I think that’s all for this meeting unless someone else has something to say.” 

“I have something else. So Vista de Onda is going to be choosing another resource officer soon to join Ana because of the increased gang activity. Uh, I told the school board that I knew another officer, and when they asked who, I told them about, uh, you Gabe.”

“Wha-”

“They were interested in having you because you had been there at the climax of Talon’s recent activity. I already told them you’re still recovering and you’re off duty for another two weeks, but they’re ready to take you on if you’re interested. I think it would be… a nice way to get back into the action.” 

“Jack- uh, I don’t know what to say. I mean, it sounds nice, but I really like my work as a detective and-” Gabe stopped himself. What was he doing? He would only be doing desk work when he got back into work, he wouldn’t be out in the field. At least if he was working at the school he would be up and around and doing something. “-and I think it would be a good change to be out with the kids at the school. Thank you, for considering me.” 

“Is that a yes?” Jack couldn’t tell what Gabe had been trying to say. He ran his hand over his head before nodding. He needed to be clearer it seemed with this one. 

“Yeah. I’d love to join Ana on the campus.” Part of what he said didn’t seem true, it felt almost like lying, but it didn’t at the same time. Working with Ana was easy for him, they’d done it before, when she hadn’t been the the high school’s resource officer, so it would be easy to work with her again. And it meant that he got to see Jesse more often, and check up on him in school, at least during his lunch, whenever that was. The more Gabriel thought about it, the better it became. Yeah, this was a good idea. 

“Well, then if that’s it. We’re finished with our meeting, and we’ll see you all here again next week!” Ana smiled at all of them, patting Gabe on the back before retreating into the kitchen to begin cleaning up after their meal. Gabe sighed and took his crutches from against the wall, getting himself while biting his tongue to absorb the pain. The pills Ana had given him had done enough to help with that at least. He walked over to where his wheelchair was and struggled to unfold it, because he was definitely not going to walk home, and finally sat down. Ana handed him his bag with his belongings that he’d brought over to make the pizza and smiled at him. 

“I can push you home again, if you’d like.” Jack stood outside the door with his jacket over his arm, his smile weak but earnest all the same. Gabe nodded his head and laid his crutches across his arm rests after he’d gotten out of the house. He waved goodbye to Mrs Shimada and Reinhardt before the door closed, and he and Jack were alone again, just as the week before. 

The road was silent again, as it was almost nine at night. Jesse should be home, and by glancing down the road Gabe could see the van in the driveway. Gabe hadn’t seen him since the morning, and he was more than a little worried about how Jesse would take the new information about him joining Ana as the school’s resource officer. On one hand, Jesse liked hanging out with him, Gabe liked to think they were pretty close after everything that had happened, but on the other he could be staying too close, not giving his son enough room to be himself and with his friends. He would just need to work at it, that was it. 

“That deep in thought, huh? You don’t have to join the school, you know. I just thought that it,” Jack paused before continuing, “I thought that it would be a good thing for you to do. You know, for the community.”

“It’s a good idea. I just didn’t see it coming. I still have two weeks left of leave though.” That gave him plenty of time to think, plenty of time to consult everyone else that was involved in his life, so Jesse, and maybe he would see if he could talk to Ana alone about it. If anyone knew anything about the job it was her, seeing as she’d been the resource officer since her daughter had started attending Vista de Onda High School.  He really just needed to think about it more, making a decision like that on the spot wasn’t good. 

“You don’t have to accept, and you don’t have to be sure of it right now, just know that the school board and the principal both approve of you joining us. It’s better hours than most.” Jack laughed and Gabe smiled at the sound. He was only trying to help how he could, there wasn’t anything else going on. Gabe nodded his head and sighed as Jack pushed him up the path to his door. He wrangled the key out of his pocket and opened the door. He called Jesse to the front to get him to help before he turned to say goodbye.

“I’ll think on it. I’ll get back to you when I do.”  Gabe handed the bag off his lap to Jesse, who looked way more disheveled than he should have been and wearing a shirt that Gabe didn’t recognize, and turned to wave to Jack. 

“Yeah don’t worry. I’ll see you next week. Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight.” Gabe closed the door after he wheeled himself in, sighing as he did. Jesse stifled a yawn, leaning over the couch as Gabe took his sweatshirt off. 

“So what was goin’ on at the meeting today?”

“Just normal stuff, really. Uh, Jack invited me to join Ana as a resource officer at the high school.” Gabe wheeled himself down the hall toward the bathroom before Jesse could respond. 

“What? Are you taking that?”

“I don’t know yet. I still have two more weeks of leave, I’m just gonna, focus on recovering from this.” Gabe gestured to his leg and Jesse nodded, letting Gabe lock himself in the bathroom. He turned the faucet on and wet his hands and face, wishing he didn’t feel so pressured from the offer. It was a good decision, it would be a good opportunity, but something about it smelled of danger, as though something was going to happen if Gabe took that job. The biggest problem with that was it made him want to take the job even more. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe starts his first day at Vista de Onda High School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhh! So college has gotten in full swing, so I don't know how often I'll be able to update with how much homework I have. As it is I wasn't able to edit this as much as I wanted, but I wanted to get it out to all of you! I hope you enjoy it and thank you again for reading!!

The Saturday after the meeting, Gabe invited Ana over for coffee, wanting to talk to her more about what Jack had offered him. Gabe hadn’t slept well, tossing and turning as he thought about what this sort of position would mean. He had even woken up and gotten out of bed before Jesse went off to work at the diner to ask him again if it was okay if he were to work on campus. Gabe just wanted to be sure this was the right move for him. Ana had nothing for him but confidence and assurance that it would be a good opportunity, and that she would be there for him along the way. She did tell him though that the thing he needed to worry about was getting back into shape and back on his feet.

The next two weeks were anything but easy. Being on leave meant Gabe had time to rest and make sure he wasn’t still in pain from surgery and the injury he’d received on duty, but it also meant he needed to see his physical therapist every other day. Using the crutches for everything left him with an attitude Jesse pointed out more than once, and sore spots in both armpits no matter how many towels he wrapped around the head of them. He got back to driving, using the van mostly to go to the grocery store with Jesse, who still had to push the cart while Gabe wrestled with making his way around the store. Just because he was injured didn’t mean that Gabe would be caught bringing store bought food to the neighborhood watch meetings. 

The Friday before Gabe was to start at the high school, he met with Jack to fill out all the paperwork. The phone calls in lieu of meetings in person had all taken place that week, and now all Gabe had to do was the gritty stuff, then he was free to work on the campus until he was fully recovered. Then if he wanted, he could move back onto the Talon case. Gabe wanted nothing more than to get back into the fray with finding Talon’s hideout, with getting the gang out of Vista de Onda, but he knew that he was rusty now after being gone for over a month, and working at the school was going to help, he’d talked himself into that by now. 

Jack sat across the table from him at Gabe’s house, looking over all the paperwork before they went to the watch meeting, and Gabe waited patiently for him to give the okay. The blonde nodded, flipping through the papers before stacking them all and binding them with a paper clip. 

“I think that’s it. I’m very excited to get you on campus. I may have already announced that we’d be getting a new officer, and some classes have already signed up to have you visit on your first day.”

“Really? Do they even know who I am?” Gabriel didn’t think kids would much like officers, they were too much into rules. At least that’s what he’d thought when he’d been younger. Jack chuckled and nodded.

“I think Jesse may have said more than a little bit about you, and he wasn’t the only one to sing you praise.” Jack smiled as he stood from his chair, holding out his hand to Gabe who shook it. 

“You know, Ana isn’t one for speaking praise unless someone’s earned it.” Ana was one to work you to death until you got something right, or right enough. Gabe grabbed his crutches and stood from the table. Jack coughed and Gabriel raised an eyebrow in his direction. 

“I wasn’t talking about Ana.” 

“And what do you know about my career? Other than what I’ve told you?” Gabe just found it hard for Jack to talk about him. They’d known each other for maybe a month? Yeah, Jack had come over a few nights that week to help him with his recovery workouts, since he’d had his own when he came back from his tour in the army, but they were still only acquaintances. 

“I had to do some research, and you’ve done your fair share of service for the community. Many of the families in town know who you are.” Jack started walking towards the door, and Gabe followed him, biting his tongue as he used his crutches. It didn’t hurt as much now, but he’d need to still use the new canes the doctor had given him when he went to campus the next week. 

“Wow, I didn’t know you thought about me that way.” It was less of a jab and more of Gabriel being actually surprised. In the precinct there was more playful banter and laughing when congratulating people on their cases and their busts, nothing like sincere gratitude, which was all Gabe was feeling from him at this point. 

“I consider us friends. And don’t think I would have been able to get you this position without selling you to them. They wanted to know everything about you. Having a kid on campus made it easier though.”

“Yeah, and Jesse says it's okay with him. These papers are just the last part of the plan.” Gabe took his keys out of his pocket, locking the front door as they headed to Ana’s for the watch meeting. The two continued to talk about the school, which Gabe had to before, Jesse had been a bit more of a pill when they first moved there. Jack seemed eager to get him on campus, and Gabe found himself smiling about what the future might hold. He knew his purpose was to provide more security and offer more support to the students, to let them know that their community was safe and they had people looking out for them, but it felt nice to be wanted there. 

The watch meeting was the same as everything else. People were talking more and more about the block party as the Talon attack that had injured Gabe grew further from them. Gabe knew the officers that were staying on the case while he transferred to the school, and he was going to keep in touch with them every step of the way if something came up. The block party wasn’t even close in terms of the date, another month and a half away, but it seemed like it was next week with the way Mrs Shimada and Ana talked about it. Jack nudged him halfway through the meeting.

“We should make a plan for the haunted house soon. Maybe we could meet up on Sunday? You could come over to my place and we work with the layout of everything.”

“Yeah, that could work. I’ll be there around ten?”

“It’s a plan. I’ll make sure it's not a mess.” Jack laughed and turned back to Ana, who was discussing who they should hire as a caterer. Most of what they were planning was above Gabe’s head until they started talking about the costume contest. 

“Wait, you’re having a contest?”

“We always do, Gabriel. It’s not my fault you’ve never participated in the block party before.” 

“I’ve been on duty on Halloween before. I won’t be surprised if they pull me on overtime to help out this year either, but you can bet your ass I’m gonna win this contest.” Gabriel patted the table with his palm open, nodding his head. Halloween had always been big for him, and this would only make it better. 

“Well it’s a good thing that the contest isn’t on Halloween. It’s on the 29th when the block party is.” Ana pointed towards the large calendar she had tacked on the wall, lifting the page for September to show October and how Halloween landed on a Tuesday. Gabriel nodded his head, he’d definitely win that shit then. 

The end of the meeting came, and after Gabriel’s outburst about the costume contest, they had made sure to draft up rules of what was appropriate to wear to the block party and to the contest. Ana had come up with the idea of categories, so that multiple people could win, and it wouldn’t just be the children, which of course made it only easier for Gabriel to win the section he’d be entering. They all left the meeting feeling a bit better about what was going to happen, and Gabe left the meeting being okay with his armpits feeling sore. 

Jack and Gabe walked home together, even though Gabe no longer had Jack pushing him in a wheelchair, it was a habit now. 

“You got really excited about the costume contest back there. Any reason in particular?” Jack smirked as he walked, his hands in his pockets. Gabe chuckled as he thought about when he was a child, about something that happened so long ago.

“When I was younger, I helped fix my clothes and my sisters’ clothes a lot. There came a contest at school for the best Halloween costume, and the winner- the winner got a gift certificate for $25 at this local ice cream place. We didn’t have any costumes in the house, but we had lots of rags and towels that my mom never threw out. I patched them all together, had my older sister help me with some makeup, and I went as a scare crow. I was about nine, maybe ten?” The memories of all of it came rushing back to Gabe, of the late nights he’d spent sewing it all together, the amount of bandaids he’d had on his fingers and his sisters helping him tear apart the already tattered rags. His eyes had itched all day when he finally got to school, so thankfully he had a good reason for crying other than the fact that some girl with money beat him at a costume contest. 

“Wow. Did you win?”

“No. I got second place after this girl who had a princess outfit her mom bought for her. You can bet your ass I won the next year though.” And every year after that until he was in highschool. They stopped doing costume contests once they didn’t care whether or not you came to school. 

“That sucks, man. Well, I’m sure you’ll win this year if that’s anything to go by. I’m not much of a costume person as it is.”

“I’ll help you with something, as long as you don’t steal my thunder.” 

“No, I couldn’t pull your attention away from your own costume. You make yours spectacular for me.” 

“Your call, man.” Gabe shrugged his shoulders as they reached his porch. He smiled to Jack, finally seeing him eye to eye instead of looking up from his chair, and nodded to him, his face growing warm. Jack’s cheeks were light pink, his hands still in his pockets as he looked to the doorway and back to his shoes. 

“I’ll be fine. See you Sunday? 10?” Jack smiled, stepping down from the porch. Gabe nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll bring coffee.”

“I’ll see you then.” Jack stopped after he spoke, just nodding his head before turning to leave. Gabe watched after him before entering the house and locking the door behind him. His chest felt tight and he found himself catching his breath. What the fuck? Gabe shook his head. Jack hadn’t said anything weird, they were just meeting at his place to start with their plans, build a list of supplies they needed, nothing else. Gabe sighed as he sat down on the couch, tossing his crutches onto the other seat as he did. It didn’t take long for the front door to open again. 

“Hey Gabe, how was the meeting?” Jesse stepped in through the front door, his apron over his arm, his hair up in a small bun behind his head. 

“Oh you know, Ana being paranoid about the block party, nothing else really.” 

“Fareeha told me you’re working on the haunted house with Jack? How’s that goin’?” Gabe ran a hand over his head, moving his beanie as he shrugged his shoulders. 

“Haven’t started yet. We were planning to meet up on Sunday to get a look at what his house’ll let us do.” 

“You got yourself a proper date for it then. I told her you could do it, what with your decorations skills and whatnot.” Jesse patted Gabe on the shoulder as he passed by him into the kitchen, opening the fridge. 

“It’s not a date.”

“Don’t matter what you call it.” Jesse pulled the jug of milk from the fridge and drank from it. Gabe groaned when he did, but he was guilty of it too, he wouldn't stop the boy when he was a bad influence. 

“Well, what’re you doing home so late? I thought you didn’t work Friday nights?” Jesse almost spat out his milk at the question, quickly wiping his face and putting the drink back into the fridge. 

“N-no reason, just traded shifts with Charlie so he works my Sunday shift this week.”

“And why is that?” Gabe was poking at nothing, but the way Jesse reacted made him think that maybe there was something else. 

“I was uh, plannin’ on taking the van this Sunday to go to the movies.”

“Alright, I’ll be sure to leave you the keys.” Gabe went to grab his crutches, standing up in the living room. Jesse blinked in surprise at the response.

“Uh, really? Thanks, sir.”

“Unless there’s a reason I wouldn’t let you go. Is there?” Gabe raised an eyebrow and Jesse caved.

“No, sir, there isn’t. I’m just uh, goin’ on a date.”

“Oh really? Who’s the lucky person?” Gabe laughed and patted Jesse on the back. His son perked at his wording, something Gabe had always been very careful about. But even with Gabe’s acceptance, Jesse hesitated before answering. 

“You know him, sir. Uh, Hanzo Shimada.” Jesse blushed all over, running his hand over his face and through his hair as he avoided looking up to Gabe. There had to be something special to get him that flustered. Gabe wasn’t that surprised, he knew Jesse had spent a lot of time with the Shimadas when he was at the hospital, so for something to come from it wasn’t surprising. 

“Oh really? Well, don’t stay out all day, we’ll need to make a grocery run.” He pat Jesse on the back again and headed toward his own room, trying to forget that Jesse called his meeting with Jack on Sunday a date. 

Sunday morning came far too soon. Gabe had spent most of Saturday stretching and doing the exercises that his physical therapist had instructed him to, meaning his body was sore and screeching by the time his alarm went off at eight in the morning. He groaned and opened his curtains, something he could do without using his crutches, then reached for the cane his doctor had given him. He needed to transition to the cane now, he knew he needed to, and as soon as he stood up he felt sure enough in his step to only use the cane, but he wasn’t going to stay standing in the shower, that was out of the question right now. Gabe sat down on the chair he’d gotten for on top of the bath, and let the water run over him, loosening his muscles, easing some of the pain away. He washed himself, got dressed, and headed to the kitchen to see what type of coffee he could bring to Jack’s house. That’s when he realized he needed to buy more, and that the closest Starbucks would have to do. 

Gabe knocked on Jesse’s door, opening it to tell his son he was going to Starbucks and asked if he wanted anything. The three grunts told him his usual, and Gabe was off, keys in one hand, cane in the other as he walked to the bright orange van. Traffic was normal, there weren’t many people awake or out of bed just yet, so he got in line for the nearest drive thru and took out his cellphone and dialed Jack’s number. 

“Gabe? You’re still coming, right?”

“Yeah, I’m out getting coffee, right now, what do you want?”

“Oh, I didn’t think you were buying it, uh, I’ll just have a plain cup. You don’t need to get me anything special.” Gabe rolled his eyes, of course he wouldn’t want anything special. 

“Alright, I’m getting you black. I’ll be over in a half hour.”

“Okay, see you then.” The phone call ended and Gabe tapped his hand on the wheel as he waited for the rest of the line to move forward. Why were there so many people who depended on Starbucks on a Sunday? He stopped thinking about it when he realized he was there for the same reason they were. 

It only took about another ten minutes for Gabe to have the three drinks he needed, black for Jack and Jesse, and his own special drink he wouldn’t tell anyone. He liked sugar, and he was going to splurge when he could, and nobody could tell him otherwise. The drive back went smoother, with less people in his way, he even let himself drive in between the speed humps instead of going over. 

Gabe parked the van in the driveway and looked at the stand he had filled with drinks. There was no way he was going to be able to open the door and walk without his cane at the same time, let alone carry a drink holder. Thankfully Jesse heard him drive up and came from the house,  still clad in his pajamas, to take the drinks. Gabe locked the car and entered their home after him. 

“Any reason you went all special on us today? Whos that one for?” Jesse squinted by the kitchen counter, his own cup in his hand as he drank greedily. The diner hadn’t been good to his caffeine addiction. 

“I forgot to buy coffee when we went to the grocery store last. Put that on a list actually for this afternoon. When were you planning on going to the movies?”

“Around 6, why?”

“I’ll be home before then so we can head out and get groceries. I start work tomorrow, so I don’t know how much time I’ll have this week.”

“Still doesn’t tell me who gets the third coffee.”

“It’s for Jack. I told him I’d bring some, and I’ll be able to carry it because I’ll be done with mine.” Gabe took the last drink, taking the lid off to get the rest of the whipped cream. Jesse laughed at him as he wiped the cream off his moustache and Gabe pushed him into the counter more. 

“Alright, well I’m gonna do homework-”

“And make a grocery list.”

“- while you go on your date. Have fun.” Jesse skirted out of the kitchen before Gabe could push him more and left it too himself. Gabe groaned and shouted that he’d left the keys on the counter before he grabbed Jack’s coffee and headed out of the house and down the street. 

The pale gray house that had been the neighborhood wreck, the place they didn’t speak of, the abandoned building on the block, finally looked lived in. Gabe hadn’t paid any real attention to it, since it still felt weird to see it as Jack’s house, but now that he noticed everything, it didn’t seem as scary. The pale grey house had a new coat of paint and a short picket fence around the yard that looked freshly mown. The truck in front was another indicator that the house was now being lived in, along with the planter boxes along the windows in the front, though the small plants growing from them seemed to be a bit overwatered. A large willow tree sat in the front yard as well, the trunk leaning precariously close to the house. Gabe walked past the truck and up towards the front door, Jack’s cup of coffee in his hand as he rang the doorbell. The front door had a screen in front of it, and the main door opened only a minute or so after Gabe had rung. Jack answered in a regular pair of jeans and a t-shirt that looked as though it had been with him through the renovation of the house. 

“I got coffee.” Gabe rose the cup up and Jack nodded, opening the screen to let him inside. It was almost surreal, to enter a house that the children talked about behind their backs, that the locals decreed cursed and haunted. Nobody had really stayed in the house more than a few weeks, and if they didn’t leave voluntarily because of something else, other things happened. Sure, Gabe tried not to dwell on it, since all the cases involving the house had been solved, but it still felt weird to be stepping inside something that was probably cursed and always proved it to its current tenants. 

“Thanks,” Jack took the cup from him after he entered, closing the front door and taking a long sip of the hot coffee. He sighed and smiled before nodding his head and showing Gabe to the kitchen. “I made a list of everything that we could do with the house. I think we could use the garage more than anything, rather than having the kids go through to the backyard. I don’t know how scary it would be.” 

Gabe sat down at the kitchen table, a small white round thing, with only two other chairs. Jack took one of the other ones, placing his coffee on the table as he handed a paper to Gabe. It was a layout of the house, and with how large the garage seemed to be, Jack didn’t have such a bad idea. 

“Parents might be better with the garage too. This house isn’t really…” Gabe shrugged his shoulders, looking over the list again. 

“You too? I don’t think this place is haunted.” Jack sighed and ran his hand through his hair, looking through the window facing the front yard. 

“You heard about what’s happened here, right? I mean, as it is, the tree you have in the front is going to fall if it so much as gets sneezed on.” 

“Really?” Jack stood from the table then, leaning in front of the window as he checked out the willow tree. Gabe chuckled and shook his head.

“Yeah, you should have it checked out to see if you should get it removed. It could crush your house, but back to the haunted house.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jack groaned before he sat back down, taking the list he’d handed Gabriel and nodding his head. “I mostly think we should do the whole ghost thing, nothing super scary or gory.”

“Alright, do you know what you’re going to wear?” Gabriel took the pad of paper from Jack and started sketching on a new page, trying to come up with a small diagram of what they could do. “We could do a headless horsemen type thing.”

Gabriel continued to draw, adding in a small sketch of a possible costume. He didn’t know if he would have enough time to contribute as much as he wanted, but the two of them together could probably get everything finished.  He continued to sketch on, biting his lip as he did, making sure the pen didn’t bleed through the paper. The sketch of the costume didn’t have a helmet or a head, since that’s what he’d wanted, but it felt off with the rest of the design. He decided to screw the idea of the headless horsemen and drew a pumpkin at the head of the costume. 

“Wow, that’s really good.”

“It’ll look better when I make it.  What were you thinking in terms of a costume?” Gabriel turned to a new page in the pad of paper, ready to start drawing something else up for Jack.

“Uh, I have an old costume I can use, you don’t have to worry about it.” 

“You sure? I’m offering this here.”

“I’m sure. I think it’ll be fine.” Jack nodded again, as if to affirm that yes, he was okay with just using whatever old costume he had packed up in his equally old house. Gabe shrugged his shoulders and ripped out the page he’d drawn his own costume in before flipping back to the initial list Jack had made. They could do a number of things, but Gabe agreed, there shouldn’t be anything too scary and no gore, they didn’t know how old these children were going to be. 

A few hours later, after scouring and looking around Jack’s garage to make sure they would have enough room for whatever they decided to do, Gabe decided it was time to go home. He had to prepare himself for going back to work the next day, and apparently to introduce himself to a number of classrooms. Jack bid him farewell, giving him a wave and a short ‘see you tomorrow,’ which was another odd thing. Gabe hadn’t realized he’d most likely see Jack almost every weekday if not every week day starting tomorrow. He blinked a few times and let it settle before he finished his walk home. This was definitely something he would need to get used to. 

Monday morning came, and by seven Gabriel had already showered and eaten his breakfast. He stood in front of the mirror, leaning on his cane, looking at himself. It felt weird to be in uniform again, after almost two months of being off duty recovering, but there he was, dressed in black and blue. He knew that he needed to stop by the precinct before he went to school, and that Ana was going to pick him up to do that, but that wasn’t for another half hour. Jesse wasn’t even up yet since his first class didn’t start until 8. 

Gabriel walked toward his son’s room and sighed before knocking on the door. He didn’t want to wake him, tell him he needed to get ready, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous, excited, maybe both wrapped up into one emotion he couldn’t name. Jesse groaned as he rolled over in his bed and Gabe opened the door just a crack. 

“Ana’s coming to pick me up soon, so you can take the van to school.” Jesse only groaned his reply, which sufficed for an acknowledgement that he’d heard. Gabe nodded his head and closed his son’s door, walking back out to the living room. He still had about twenty more minutes before Ana was to pick him up, but just as he sat down on the couch the doorbell rang. Gabe stood up and opened the door, surprised to see Jack there holding a cup of coffee. 

“I figured, with how much you seemed on the fence about working at the school, that you might want some coffee. It’s decaf, just to calm the nerves you know.”

“Shouldn’t you be at the school already?”

“I’m leaving right now, I just wanted to give you this before I left. I’ll see you soon.” Jack waved again as he walked back toward his house. Gabe stared at the coffee in his hands before watching as the truck pulled out of the driveway and sped off down the road. He smelled the coffee through the plastic lid on the styrofoam cup and sighed. He did need this. Gabe sat back down on the couch after closing the door and took a small sip to gauge the heat. It seemed fine, as if the brisk morning air had cooled it down to the perfect temperature, and Gabe found himself drinking it down, not that it would actually calm his nerves. 

A horn rang outside and Gabe stood again, this time taking his keys with him to clock the door on the way out. Ana sat in the patrol vehicle on the curb, waiting for him while she talked with someone on the phone. He waved and opened the passenger side, ducking to get in without straining anything. Ana finished her call and put her phone back on the stand connected to the AC. 

“Back to work for you.” Ana smiled, and Gabe had to rethink where he was. She was dressed in her uniform as well, her head covered with a black headscarf to match in with the police clothes. He nodded to her, and to himself, before they were off toward the precinct. 

Gabriel Reyes knew how to follow orders, he knew how to follow rules, he was used to doing that working as a police officer, and he was able to do everything they asked of him before they offered him back his badge and gun. He holstered the gun and replaced his badge on his uniform, nodding to their captain before rejoining Ana in the patrol car. He was set, all he needed to do now was show up at the school. 

By the time they reached Vista de Onda High School, classes had already started, and if Gabriel was correct, they were already in their second class. It was a quarter past nine, and Gabe walked briskly from the patrol vehicle to the front office, Ana on his heels. She would be showing him around the school, both of them going into classes to introduce him. The front office seemed happy to see him, the secretary and attendance official were both happy to have another officer on campus after the recent gang activity. Gabriel wanted to tell them that if something were to happen, he wouldn’t necessarily be the best defense. He still needed to use a cane after all. 

But soon enough the secretary had called to Vice Principal Morrison’s office, and he said he was on his way. Gabe blinked. He didn’t think that Jack would be joining them, he had a million other things to do he was sure. But then Jack was in the office, smiling at the others, wearing the same suit jacket and jeans with a polo Gabe had seen him in less than two hours ago. He seemed at home, in his natural state, more so than when Gabe had even been at his house. 

“Hi Gabriel, Ana. I’m excited for you to be here. I’ve got the list of classes you’ll be talking to. Quite a bit of the teachers were actually excited about you signing on as our second resource officer, so there are a lot that signed up to see you.” Jack took a list from the secretary and handed it to Ana after looking it over. “I’ll be joining you for the first couple, then I have a meeting.”

“Alright, well, let’s get started.” Ana smiled and Gabe tried to copy her. He was nervous, his stomach felt like it was doing acrobats on a wire too thin for one’s foot, but he followed them out the door, calling them down when they walked too fast for him. 

Their first class was actually all of the gym classes. They were gathered inside, sitting in the bleachers with their regular clothes still on. Something told him that the students were only excited because this meant they wouldn’t be doing any actual exercise. The three of them walked in, and Jack waved down one of the teachers before they stood in front of the children. Gabe was not excited to be talking to this many people when he still couldn’t walk without help. But the introductions went great, and the students seemed honestly curious about who Gabe was and what he would be doing for them while working on campus. It felt nice, and the knots in his stomach slowly ebbed away before they needed to head to the next class. 

Jack’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket before sighing. 

“Seems like I have to go now. Ana, can you show him around to the rest of the classes?”

“Sure thing.” Ana nodded to him, looking to the list of classes. Jack smiled then turned to Gabe.

“Thanks, I’ll see you at lunch?” 

“Yeah.” The question caught him off guard, but lunch seemed reasonable. Gabe nodded and smiled as Jack did, waving as he left.

“Awesome, it’s a date.” That’s when Gabe almost choked on his own saliva. He coughed, leaning on his cane, trying to stop whatever it was. Ana seemed to find it amusing though, patting him on the back until he was better. 

“Let’s get this on so you can have your date with Jack.”

“It’s just lunch, probably some shitty school lunch.”

“Watch your language on campus, and it’s alright. Reinhardt asked me on our first date while I was on duty.” And that’s how Gabriel knew he wouldn’t be hearing the end of Jack calling them having lunch together a date.

The next couple classes went by easily, they didn’t stay for the entire duration of any of them, instead visiting as many classes as they could before lunch came around. Gabe would be given a proper introduction to exactly what he would be doing while working on campus as a resource officer later on. Gabriel found it more and more difficult to focus as the clock slowly ticked toward noon, but he trudged on through the classes, smiling and introducing himself to the students, answering the simple questions they had about his injury and who he was. 

Then noon came, and Ana showed him back to the main office before leaving for her own lunch. Gabe waited around, leaning on his cane as he looked to his watch. He hadn’t agreed to meet Jack anywhere, but the main office, where his own office as vice principal sat, was a good bet. It didn’t take long for Jack to come out of the hallway leading to his office, checking his own watch before he saw Gabe and smiled. Gabe found himself smiling back.

“I hope the students were easy on you.” Jack opened the door to the office, letting them both outside. They began walking through campus, other students who had their lunch at the same time wandering around as well.

“They weren’t any trouble. So, where are we going?” Gabe didn’t know the campus well enough to know where Jack was leading him, but he trusted him for this, it was only lunch, nothing else. How could lunch on a school campus be a date?

“We’re just stopping by the cafeteria, we can eat there or my office if you want.” Jack glanced back to him before continuing down the walkway towards a larger building in the middle of campus.

“Do you always eat the same food as the students?” Gabriel hadn’t heard much about the school food, Jesse had never been one to complain unless the food was really detestable.

“No, I usually bring my own lunch, but I uh, slept in this morning. The food is generally okay here, but we can go out if you want. I have an hour.” Jack stopped in his track, his hands in his pockets as he waited for Gabe to respond. 

“That would be best I think. What’s close?” Gabriel didn’t want to test his stomach with highschool food, he’d done his bout when he was a student. 

“We could just go home and pick something up and come back.” 

“Yeah, let’s do that.” Gabe nodded his head and Jack smiled, heading back towards where the front office sat near the road. Jack’s truck waited in the parking lot, noticeably older than the majority of the cars present. Gabe wondered if it was the car his parents had given him in highschool, and the guy had just kept it in working order since then. But he didn’t contemplate it that long, he got into the truck with Jack, and tried not to wince as Jack tried to start it up. It was definitely an old model. 

The truck did start though, and then Jack pulled them out of the parking lot, headed down the street and towards where they both lived. It was awkward to be in such close proximity, even though Gabe had literally been rubbing elbows with him the last neighborhood watch meeting. This was different, they weren’t surrounded by other people, they were enclosed in a small space with nothing happening other than the scenery of the beach town around them. 

“How old is this thing?” Gabriel needed to break the silence, he needed something to be said between them, something to make the entire experience less weird. 

“Uh, I don’t know. It was my dad’s on the farm, but I took it with me when I went to college, and then after when I joined the army.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you served.” Gabe really wished Jack listened to the radio or something while he drove, so there would be something more interesting to talk about or at least something to fill what could have been a comfortable silence.

“Did you? You’ve got an air of combat around you.”

“Oh, no. I went straight to the force after I graduated from CSULA.” It had been his dream as a child to be a cop, and it felt weird now to realize that he’d already achieved it. What was he looking for now? A better future for Jesse? Gabe took a large breath and sighed, it was not the time to have an existential crisis. 

“Oh. Well, I bet you’re an asset to them.” Jack nodded his head then pulled into his driveway, parking the car. “I’ve got some leftovers from yesterday. Didn’t have anything special, just some stew.”

“In the summer?”

“It’s almost fall.” Jack stood from the car and locked it after Gabe stepped out as well. Stew didn’t seem that bad if it meant Gabe didn’t have to cook or go hungry. The two of them entered Jack’s house, and he got out two bowls from the cupboard and filled them up with stew from the fridge. Gabe sat at the same table they’d been at the day before, and waited as Jack microwaved their food. 

The two of them sat at the table and ate the stew. It wasn’t bad, it didn’t have enough meat in Gabriel’s opinion, and was a bit too sweet, but it still tasted good, and Gabe certainly didn’t stop eating it. It didn’t take long for them both to be finished, they didn’t talk while they ate, they only had a small amount of time before they had to get back to the school, so chatting wouldn’t be responsible. But then they were finished, and Gabriel hadn’t realized how hungry he was, and just how much stew Jack had given both of them. 

“That was good.”

“You’re not being nice to not hurt my feelings, right?” Jack chuckled and took their bowls, placing them in the sink. Gabe smiled too, standing up with his cane. 

“I am, but there’s no rule against being nice.” Gabriel laughed and Jack joined, he seemed okay with it, taking ownership that he wasn’t the best cook. “I’ll have to have you come over and teach you to make stew, or at least give you some pointers.” 

“We can make some for the meeting Friday maybe.”

“Yeah, that can work.” Gabriel smiled and the two headed out of the house. They got into the truck, and not surprisingly the conversation came much easier as they drove down the road back Vista de Onda High School. 


End file.
